Presently, large volumes of national currencies remain in circulation with no capability for tracking individual notes or management plans in place to take advantage of information collected during periodic processing of individual notes. For example, at any given time vast numbers of individual notes of United States currency are in circulation throughout the world. These notes are collected, held, and distributed by various institutions, individuals, and government entities. An individual note may be haphazardly processed at unpredictable intervals during its circulation lifetime. Eventually, the note may be lost, destroyed, collected, or otherwise taken out of circulation. Interspersed with this large volume of currency notes are the inevitable counterfeits which, many times, duplicate in many respects, including specific serial number, a virtually identical legal tender note that is concurrently in circulation.
A method for currency management and tracking that accumulates statistics on the circulation history of notes and accurately identifies the last distribution, receipt, or processing of individual notes could provide a currency issuance authority or other entities involved in the processing and distribution of currency with a powerful tool for the management of currency and the maintenance of significant integrity of the currency pool with rapid recognition of counterfeit intrusions into this pool. Such a method would also greatly increase the security of note distribution and processing by providing better accounting of each note.
A need exists for improved management of notes in circulation. Management of notes would include obtaining, tracking and comparing the circulation history of individual notes while also increasing distribution efficiency. Circulation history of an individual note could include the note's specific serial number or other unique identifying characteristics, movement history, fitness characteristics, and other physical characteristics. It is the need for efficient distribution, better management, and accurate tracking of currency notes which is addressed by the present invention.
In addition, the prior art methods for distribution of currency involve several labor steps that increase opportunities for accounting problems and theft and add to the time involved in dispersing the currency. No standardized container exists which is adaptable to the various equipment utilized in the currency processing, collecting, and dispersing cycle. Consequently, note bundles must be reconfigured for each different step in the distribution process. Thus, a need also exists for a currency container that reduces the need for reconfiguring note bundles, thereby increasing security and reducing labor steps.